Marino's houses and greens
Marino was built from the 1920s by Dublin Corporation as a garden suburb: terraces of modest two-storey houses along curving roads and around shared greens, between Fairview, Griffith Avenue and the Malahide Road. A century on, it still looks much as it was planned, and plenty of the houses are still lived in by the families who first moved in, or by their children and grandchildren.
That long family history is what makes a Marino clearance different. These are rarely quick, anonymous jobs. More often, we're helping a family empty a home that three generations have known.
Small rooms, steep stairs
Marino houses are compact. Rooms are small, the stairs are narrow and turn tightly, and the hall is short. That doesn't make them quick to clear; it means everything is planned around the stairs.
- Furniture comes apart upstairs. Wardrobes, bed frames and chests of drawers are unscrewed and broken down upstairs, which saves the wallpaper and the banisters on the tight turn.
- Stair carpets get covered before anything is carried.
- Bags are staged in the hall and loaded in short runs.
- The kitchen extension and back garden are cleared through the back door where possible, keeping the hall free.
Many houses have been extended at the back over the years, and some have attic conversions with a proper stairs. Others still have a hatch on the landing and a loft nobody has opened in years. Our attic clearance page explains how we deal with both.
spotless.ieA house that stayed in the family
When the last parent in a Marino house dies, the clearance often involves a whole family: brothers and sisters, cousins, sometimes neighbours who've known the house all their lives. Some want to be there; some would rather not. We work either way.
What we'd suggest:
- Agree among yourselves what's being kept, and put it in one room or mark it.
- Leave everything else as it is. Don't spend weekends bagging; we sort as we go.
- Tell us about anything you're looking for, such as a will, a ring or a box of letters, so we keep an eye out.
Papers, photographs and anything that might matter are handed to you, never binned. A house like this often holds things nobody has looked at in decades, like old prayer books, school reports, union cards or letters from relatives abroad, and we treat them as the family's, not as rubbish. Our bereavement house clearance page explains how we approach it. If the house became very full in the later years, we'll clear it gently and without judgement; see hoarder clearance.
Emptying a family home in Marino? Send photos of each room, the loft and the back garden on WhatsApp. We'll reply with a fixed price and work at your family's pace.
Parking by the green
Marino's roads are narrow and residents' cars line both sides, so loading needs a plan. We stop as close to the door as we safely can, on the road beside a green where there is one. On the busier edges, Griffith Avenue, the Malahide Road and towards Fairview, we use a side road and carry a little further.
A weekday morning, after the school run, is usually the quietest time. We work Monday to Saturday, 8am to 5pm, and we're happy to start early if the road is clearer then. On big match days at Croke Park, traffic around Fairview and the North Strand gets heavy, so we avoid booking a Marino clearance for those afternoons.
It also helps to have a word with the neighbours either side before the day. In a terrace, the van may be outside their door for a while, and most people are happy to move a car for an hour if they know in advance.
Back gardens and sheds
Most Marino houses have a back garden, and most of those hold a shed built up over the years: tools, plant pots, bikes, a lawnmower and garden furniture. We clear them with the house or on their own; see shed clearance. Few houses here have a garage, but if yours has one, or there's an old outhouse at the back, garage clear-outs explain how we handle it.
Reuse, recycling and the rest
Good furniture is kept back for reuse where possible. Cardboard, metal and electricals are separated for recycling, and only what's left goes to licensed facilities. Every job is fully insured, and Spotless is an authorised waste carrier under permit NWCPO-25-13287-01. If the family home is being swapped for an apartment, we can clear that end too; see apartment clearance.
Next door, see Clontarf, Donnycarney and Drumcondra. There's more on house clearance in Dublin, and our house clearance page covers how we work everywhere.
